THE BEST: Chinatown Grocery Store

[gweixel]

i know there are a ton of chinese grocery stores in china town of course but i was wondering if any are particularly recommended or particularly stand out in terms of freshness, variety, and authenticity of ingredients?

thanks!!

[Gastro888]

Go down Bayard St. for your veggies. Buy 'em from the stands. Go to Dynasty for your one-stop supermarket stuff (frozen/pantry items) and Kam San for your pottery/crockware. If you want Chinese herbal medicine there's a place off Pell (across the street from the parking garage) that is reputable. There are alot of places that jack up the price and offer low quality stuff (for Chinese herbal medicine).

If I made any mistakes here, I apologize. I'm working on no sleep, car troubles and lack of coffee. *hooks up IV to Starbucks* Ahhh.

*Edited b/c, well, see reasons above.

Edited January 14, 2005 by Gastro888 (log)

[Pan]

The humongous Chinese supermarket on Kissena Blvd. across from the Queens Public Library is the best, but if you can't make it out to Flushing, check out the stores on East Broadway for produce (cheaper than Bayard St.) and look for condiments at the Hong Kong Supermarket at Pike St. between East Broadway and Madison St.

[rich]

The humongous Chinese supermarket on Kissena Blvd. across from the Queens Public Library is the best, but if you can't make it out to Flushing, check out the stores on East Broadway for produce (cheaper than Bayard St.) and look for condiments at the Hong Kong Supermarket at Pike St. between East Broadway and Madison St.

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Are you referring to A&C Supermarket or is it another?

[Pan]

Yes, A&C is the name of the place. Thanks.

[FatTony]

I've always had good experiences at Thai and Indonesia Grocery on Mott at Bayard. They have good fruit and vegetables outside, always in excellent shape and lots of good asian greens. Inside, they have a lot of Chinese and Thai staples and the prices are competitive. I always buy fresh kaffir lime leaves here, and have occasionally found kaffir limes. Their freezer section is small but intriguing and includes frozen galangal.

One other recommendation: at the bottom of Orchard Street near Canal there is a wonderful chinese sausage shop where the sausages are made on the premises. They cost around $3 for a vacuum sealed bag of 12. I usually get one each of duck liver and pork. They're magnificent. Since finding the place I keep a pouch of these in my freezer at all times for fried rice with chinese sausage, a dish I could subsist on forever!

I'm taking the New School's Chinatown walking tour in April and will post back with any new finds.

[Kim D]

Although I currently live in Chicago, I've been spending quite a bit of time in New York. When people ask me what I do, I tell them that I cook for my husband. Truth be told, I write software. But, I can do that anywhere. So I end up following my husband to wherever he is working. And I spend hours grocery shopping and reading cookbooks.

The first day I had access to a stove (I would rather be in a tiny apartment with a kitchen than a luxurious hotel room without one), I grabbed my backpack and headed off to Chinatown. Armed with a list of places to shop garnered from this thread and the thread linked to by FatTony.

My first stop was the Thai and Indonesian Grocery. I picked up a bag of Jasmine rice, nam prik pao, fish sauce and frozen lemongrass imported from Thailand.

My next stop was either Kam Man on Canal or Dynasty Supermarket on Elizabeth. I've spent time in both places and can't quite remember which is which. I was searching for a bamboo steamer reinforced with metal like the ones I saw at New Yeah. I didn't find one but I haven't given up. There are a couple supply stores on Bowery that look promising.

I also picked up a black Silkie chicken. I had never seen one before so I bought it to make chicken stock and laab. The apartment has limited cookware. No stockpot. But I made do. With a very dull knife, I hacked off the chicken's head at the bottom of the neck. I wasn't sure if I wanted to see a face in my stock, but decided what the heck. After all, the leg still had the feet attached. I was going to see chicken toes, why not see the beak? I have to say that the stock was the most gelatinous stuff I have ever made. The chicken had a different texture than I'm used to and the flesh is black.

The next day I bought a red snapper from a fish monger at 135 Mott. I was a bit intimidated but there was no way I was going to _not_ buy a fish. And some shrimps. I would move to New York just for the fish. I was never a fish fan until I bought fish at Steve Hatt in London. Chicago just can't compete. Especially not on price. My snapper cost $5. I baked it in banana leaves with a paste of coriander roots and peppercorns.

Making a paste with a coffee grinder works, but not very well. The next day I found the Thai grocer on Mosco and bought a small mortar and pestle. This is my favorite store. I had been looking everywhere for rau ram and she had it! And fresh Thai lemongrass. And betel leaves. I had had them at a Vietnamese restaurant in London and that was the only time I'd seen them. Now I just need to remember what that dish was.

I haven't found the Chinese sausage shop but I think I'll look for it next week when I'm back in New York.

Edited April 10, 2007 by Kim D (log)

[Scotty O]

Do any of the Chinatown groceries sell fresh pork belly? I've been wanting to try my hand at some dishes using the cut, but I doubt I'll be able to find it in any American grocery stores.

[weinoo]

Most of the butcher shops in Chinatown sell the belly...if a grocery has a butcher inside, (for example, the market on Pike and Allen), they should have it as well.

[weinoo]

Here's an FYI - the large Hong Kong Supermarket at the corner of Pike and Allen will probably be closed indefinitely due to:

Not that I feel this is any great loss (the supermarket, that is). I had often found use by dates rubbed off of canned and jarred products, and the place was filthy...just saying.

[Steamtrain]

My once a month visit to chinatown usually has me stopping at the same places for shopping.

- dynasty(hong kong?) on elizabeth

- kam man on canal for pocky and milk tea. the prices here seem to be higher than other places in chinatown

- tokyo mart on mulberry for japanese groceries. cheap prices in general

- bankok center grocery on mosco for thai groceries(fresh kaffir lime leaves).

http://www.bangkokcentergrocery.com/

- di palo at grand and mott for italian cheese

- deluxe food market on elizabeth and on mott, it connects mott and elizabeth

for fish i have no favorite monger, i only buy if something looks really great and fresh

for produce i stop at the produce markets on mott on my way to di palo